Media screws up again...

"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Rich Ahrens" wrote in message news:40c87dd2$0$90559

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

So why is that entire industry so impervious to correcting it's major fault?

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message news:wC4yc.33

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it
wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his
statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to
the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

So why is that entire industry so impervious to correcting it's major
fault?

It's interesting hearing comments from people who say that anybody can be a
journalist, who themselves don't even have a high school-level grasp of
their own language. There is no apostrophe in "its major fault." "It's"
is a contraction of "it is."

Now, addressing what Rich was getting at: Rather than bitching on amUsenet,
have you actually bothered to correct a reporter or editor who misused the
term? And, it turns out, the reporter in this case merely reported the
information as it was given to him. So, if the subject were to be targetted
accurately it should read "Aviation industry screws up again," which makes
about as much sense.

-c

"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message news:wC4yc.33

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it
wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his
statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to
the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

So why is that entire industry so impervious to correcting it's major
fault?

It's interesting hearing comments from people who say that anybody can be
a
journalist, who themselves don't even have a high school-level grasp of
their own language. There is no apostrophe in "its major fault." "It's"
is a contraction of "it is."

Geez...when your face is shoved into a toilet, don't hit the handle.

Don't get all pompous that if we can't write like an expert, we can't
comment.

Take that attitude (so commonplace in your field) and stick it where the sun
doesn't shine.


Now, addressing what Rich was getting at: Rather than bitching on
amUsenet,
have you actually bothered to correct a reporter or editor who misused the
term?

I've sent letters to the papers about major mistakes in facts (I don't
bother correcting their gramatical erros which are numerous) and got
NOTHING.

AAMOF, there's a website dedicated just to correcting errors in the NY Times
economic reporting.

Guess what their response is.

And, it turns out, the reporter in this case merely reported the
information as it was given to him. So, if the subject were to be
targetted
accurately it should read "Aviation industry screws up again," which makes
about as much sense.

Okay...here's a clue about the media: they don't report, they pontificate.
They are impervious to correction. They promote themselves (virtually) as
experts in every field.

And they wonder why their credibility is diminishing by the hour.

I understand your concern for your industry, but like so many other facets
of life, they're their own worst enemy. And
making childish excuses only exacerbate the problem.

Tom
--
Real science doesn't work on consensus.
It works on contention. When a new fact
is announced, it is attacked voraciously
from all sides and corners. If it holds up,
and proves to be true, it is then, and only
then, accepted as a fact.

With real science, you don't need
consensus. Only facts.

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message newsI5yc.43

Okay...here's a clue about the media:

I don't need a clue about the media from a civil engineer any more than you
need a clue about civil engineering from a journalist.

-c

gatt wrote:

And, it turns out, the reporter in this case merely reported the
information as it was given to him.

Or the reporter misread his shorthand notes on the interview, or the editor decided
to "correct" an obvious mistake, or ....

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

gatt wrote:

It's interesting hearing comments from people who say that anybody can be a
journalist, who themselves don't even have a high school-level grasp of
their own language. There is no apostrophe in "its major fault." "It's"
is a contraction of "it is."

So, if the subject were to be targetted
accurately it should read "Aviation industry screws up again," which makes
about as much sense.

Would a real-life journalist know the difference between "targeted" and
"targetted", or how to use a spell-checker?

All we ask from our reporters is a high school level of understanding of the
world around them, which is easily achieved before the story exists and has
nothing to do with deadline pressures.



Jack

"Jack" wrote in message news:Muayc.7230

Would a real-life journalist know the difference between "targeted" and
"targetted", or how to use a spell-checker?

Sorry. I don't use spell checkers for usenet.

All we ask from our reporters is a high school level of understanding of
the
world around them, which is easily achieved before the story exists and
has
nothing to do with deadline pressures.

Wow. Did they teach you the difference between aerodynamic and mechanical
stall in high school?

-c

gatt wrote:

Did they teach you the difference between aerodynamic
and mechanical stall in high school?

They taught me to write about what I know.



Jack

"Jack" wrote in message news:

gatt wrote:

Did they teach you the difference between aerodynamic
and mechanical stall in high school?

They taught me to write about what I know.

Did you take any coursework in Journalism, then, or did their teaching fail
you? How do you "know" how the media works?

=-c

I can't tell who said what in this thread, but my comments are directed at
whoever wrote: "They taught me to write about what I know".

May I suggest that you probably have a very good case for a tuition refund?
"Write about what you know" is the mantra of creative writing courses, not
J-school.

Think of everyone you know, and what their job is. There is no way a
journalist, or anyone else, can be an expert in all of those fields.

Your beeper goes off at 3:00 AM, drive 50 miles into the middle of nowhere,
and there's your story. You don't have the slightest idea what you are
looking at, and there are no experts around to explain it. And what does a
real journalist do? He/she looks at the camera and says:

"I am standing in front of a vast crater, approximately one mile across. I
cannot determine how deep it is, some type of smoke is wafting up from the
bottom. The crater is surrounded by large, unidentifiable, torn and broken
pieces of metal, each about four to five feet long and two or three feet
thick."

That's how the pros do it. You don't need to know anything about it to
report it, as long as you stick to what you observe with your senses. If you
know something about the story, put that information in, but only what you
actually know. And keep your BS detector on high; possessing a uniform
doesn't make someone an expert, neither does possessing a degree.



"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Jack" wrote in message news:

gatt wrote:

Did they teach you the difference between aerodynamic
and mechanical stall in high school?

They taught me to write about what I know.

Did you take any coursework in Journalism, then, or did their teaching
fail
you? How do you "know" how the media works?

=-c